DISQUS

Broadcasting Brain: Observations on social media and political issues

  • edwardsmith_fred · 1 month ago
    Mark, Mactaquac is not in trouble. Additionally your comments on debt are not creditable. Every utility in this country and around the globe has debt. They are capital intensive entities. Hydro Quebec's debt is $36 billion. NB Power has paid down more than a billion in debt over the last five years and had plans to pay down even more. In terms if financial viability, they have made more than $200M over the last five years. (Check their financial statements which are on line). Not bad I would say. What is bad is that this province is selling its people out. Now tht is bad.
  • Mark Dykeman · 1 month ago
    edwardsmith_fred:

    To your point, the price tag to fix or do something with Mactaquac is unknown, so I wasn't accurate there, although I was trying to go from memory. However, as ClaudeB points out below, the dam does have problems.

    As far as NB Power's debt goes, they may have paid down $1.0 billion, but they've taken on additional debt because if you check their annual reports for the past five years (which I did), the net debt is increasing, not decreasing, if you add up the figures available through 2007-2008 - I couldn't find 2008-2009's financial results.
  • Mark Dykeman · 1 month ago
    edwardsmith_fred: Please see my Nov. 3 update in the blog post above: Premier Graham now says that there's a potential large bill coming due for Mactaquac over the next ten years.
  • Ian M Rountree · 1 month ago
    For your amusement: http://www.lowerratesnb.ca/nb/wp-login.php?redi...

    Yes. It's a hosted WP site. I'd almost call this an indication of how behind the government is - except that it's WordPress, and anything WP is usually -ahead- of the game?

    I've been keeping up with your coverage of this, and it seems a bit silly. Yes, on the surface, the debt relief and set power rates seem like a good idea, but I think perhaps it's a bit of a devil's deal. The long-term efficiency of this nuclear plant is unknown. From what it looks like, most of the infrastructure in NB needs overhauling. I don't think either party knows exactly what they're getting themselves into, and it's the residents who will end up footing the bill - either in tax, debt, or inconvenience like job market uncertainty.

    All in all, a bit lame. And I'm talking lame the way the privatization of MTS here in Manitoba was - and remains, a decade later - lame.
  • Mark Dykeman · 1 month ago
    Undoubtedly taxpayers will wind up footing the bill somehow...
  • ClaudeB · 1 month ago
    edwardsmith_fred :

    1) Yes, Mactaquac is in trouble. Google "Mactaquac alkali-aggregate reaction" to educate yourself about it.

    2) HQ has $36 G in long term debt, but $22 G in equity, $67 G in assets. The company made a $3.1 G profit last year. In contrast, NB Power has a $3.1 G long term debt, $4.7 G in assets, $340 M in equity and made an $89 M profit in 2007-2008.

    HQ has lower costs, a huge supply of capital and power in its reservoirs and they won't have to decommission any of their generating stations for decades. NB Power has little capital, no power surplus and the fossil-fuel fleet will be priced out of the market pretty soon.

    If I was a betting man, guess on which company I would lay my money on?